Maybe your stature as a fly fisherman isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed. — John Gierach

Category Archives: Fly Vest

Sometimes I have to leave my rod at home. Sometimes it’s a necessity, and sometimes it’s because my wife makes me so I can show her and my daughter where I fish.

When I do leave my gear home, I walk slower. The desperation to catch fish seeps into the mud and clay next to the river.

And I notice the river more. Well, not more, just differently. I count water skitters (or whatever it is you grew up calling them).

Today I sat next to a pool and watched bugs emerge and listened to my daughter babble.

I saw fish too. They pointed their noses up river. They sunk to the bottom of deep pools. They even rose for the handful of Blue-Wing Olives I saw. I tried to point out their little splashes to my wife. She saw some of them, but not many.